<p>Dining halls/ food choices <em>do</em> matter, especially for those that are gluten/wheat intolerant, have other food allergies, or do not eat meat/ animal products.</p>
<p>Course catalogs can be deceptive. Most prospective students will know to find out if they will be able to register for classes needed for graduation in their major. But many are attracted to one school rather than another because of the types of electives that seem available. </p>
<p>So, I would also find out how often courses of interest are actually taught. Also find out if upper-class electives are routinely canceled if enrollment lags. Do students need to audition or submit portfolios to get into some of the more interesting courses? If your student wants to take Mandarin or Arabic, but is not a major, are there enough sections so that they will not need to worry about conflicts with courses required by their major? And with Mandarin, is course instruction geared towards (or away from) students who have a good background from home (heritage speakers), or are both new learners and heritage speakers accommodated? </p>
<p>Lots of students leave pre-med and engineering programs, and not always because they are “weeded out.” Nobody anticipates that this will happen, but it is always good for a pre-med or engineering student to have a viable Plan B in mind.</p>
<p>not necessarily 4-years in the dorms, but relatively ‘safe’, close (preferably on land owned and/or managed by the university) housing options. housing which is available to students only and not open to the general public.</p>
<p>Percentage of students living in college owned housing …</p>
<p>Career centers and on-campus recruiting: something freshman never think about, but they make a big difference to upperclassmen, especially in this economic climate.</p>
<p>Internship and job placement opportunities. </p>
<p>We went to a presentation where the speaker spent all morning extolling the theatre scene in town, the choices on the menu, the diversity on campus, the kool-aid in the water, etc. but never once said anything about companies that came to the job fairs, and outstanding intership opportunities that DS was able to take advantage of.</p>
<p>Whether all those wonderful courses listed on websites and elsewhere are actually available every year (or two). </p>
<p>Most schools have many courses that are “sometimes taught”, or simply “have been taught in the past”, that then sit year after year on the books…but may be rarely offered, if at all. Stuff can languish for YEARS on paper but have no practical truth. This is true for both undergrad and graduate schools. </p>
<p>If a school is attractive to you because of it’s apparent breadth of course offerings, or particularly intriguing course offerings, make sure you spend a few minutes to find out and focus on what was offered LAST YEAR. That will tell you much more than the fantasy list.</p>
<p>A couple things that proved to be important for our family- but YMMV.
Ease of accessibility.
Older D needed to take a year off- having her school within 200 miles of our home, made it much easier for her to remain in contact with her friends during her year & since she has seemed to settle in that city, it has made it easier for us to get to see her more often than we would if she was on the opposite coast.</p>
<p>Younger D has had issues including health issues that have made it necessary for us to remain in fairly close contact to support her.
I expect if she had these concerns more than a few hundred miles away, it would have been much more difficult to help, if not impossible as there is only so much you can do through texts.
;)</p>
<p>This is very helpful! S is undecided and I will have him read this thread. Thank you.</p>
<p>The atmosphere and culture on campus - do the students, faculty and administration work together? Or is it a constant power struggle? Are student opinions valued? (which isn’t to say everything should revolve around the students’ wishes) Are efforts made to work with student organizations, or is it a matter of “wait until one group screws up, then punish everyone?” </p>
<p>Second - don’t be so quick to jump to those colleges with the “cool” suite style living for freshmen. The easiest way to meet a lot of people is to live in a traditional freshman dorm, with a long hallway of double rooms. Suites of 4, 6 or 8 are much more isolating.</p>
<p>Ease of travel from home to college campus, ease of travel without a car while on campus, cost of living in the area, whether the school has a club for the activity of your interest (or enough people interested in what you’re interested in to be able to even start a club on your own), dining options (number of meals provided, variety and quality), how much the social life evolved around the frat/sorority scene, etc. All underappreciated.</p>
<p>I actually like a campus where kids are forced/encourage to eat together. I think too many places have so many ways to eat and especially to eat alone that there is less community than there could be.</p>
<p>I also think suites are overrated. I found it much easier to make friends and socialize when I lived in a dorm with singles and doubles off a hall with communal bathrooms.</p>
<p>I’m with Pizzagirl, I like schools where nearly everyone stays on campus.</p>
<p>Lafalum, I would agree with you about the importance of the culture of the college. Campus culture has a subtle way of affecting who you become. I am often told by people how common, in a good way, their impression is of people they run into from the college I went to.</p>
<h1>30 re: Duke and tenting.</h1>
<p>Schmaltz (love your name): that’s only for one or two games. Then “tenting” becomes a trerrific bonding experience. I wasn’t thrilled at first, but many of my son’s best friends today were in the same tent freshman year (2006-7).</p>
<p>Most important to me:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Average years to graduation and why. Several schools on DS’s list had typical graduation in 5 years–or more… Reason: availability of required courses. This quickly equalized or overcame some initially apparent cost savings.</p></li>
<li><p>Career advising and recruitment programs for internships and post-grad employment; and professional school advising.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>“Then “tenting” becomes a trerrific bonding experience.”</p>
<p>Next thing you’ll tell me is publicly using rhubarb leaves instead of squeezably soft Charmin is a great way to meet low-maintenance women. I sort of thought the whole point of thousands of years of civilization evolving was that we could sleep INdoors.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, you make an excellent point! No rhubarb leaves for me, and the experience, though common, is not universal. As I said, I had my doubts! (especially while I was paying dorm fees as our darling boy was sleeping in a tent.)</p>
<p>But, the tenting business is a side effect of a small , “intimate” stadium and the end result has been, er, salubrious.</p>
<p>ETA:
"the whole point of thousands of years of civilization evolving was that we could sleep INdoors. " I am with you. But at least the tenters have wi-fi and delivery pizza!! Sometimes the pizza is courtesy of Coach K.</p>
<p>“end result has been, er, salubrious”</p>
<p>What two basketball fans do in the privacy of their own tent is their business; I just hope they use protection and don’t scare the squirrels.</p>
<p>12 to a “tent” may reduce the risk of frightening the squirrels.</p>
<p>12 guys in a tent; squirrels; sleeping outside when a perfectly good dorm room is minutes away…there’s a triple entendre there using the word “nuts” that I’m glad we’re both too classy to use.</p>